Chris Mullin Steps Down At St. John’s, Giving Mike Cragg A Chance To Put His Stamp On St. John’s Basketball

On Monday, Chris Mullin made it official and stepped down at St. John’s.

As you probably know, the new A.D. there is longtime assistant Duke A.D. Mike Cragg. He’s obviously plugged into Dukedom and people think he’s going to make a run at Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley, who starred on Duke’s back-to-back title teams in 1991-92.

It’s a logical thought. Hurley is from Jersey City and his father, Bob Hurley Sr. did incredible things with his St. Anthony’s program and is totally plugged in to the New York/New Jersey prep scene.

None of that means that that’s where Cragg will go. If it were us we sure would. But he may have other ideas - Rick Pitino is still trying to get back in although given his history a Catholic school may not be his best option - and like most A.D.’s he no doubt has his list of candidates.

And he can always call people like Coach K,Mike Brey, Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, Jeff Capel, Steve Wojciechowski and Chris Collins to ask for input and advice.

Former St. John’s coach Fran Fraschilla, who was fired for interviewing with ASU back in the day, says he’d tell Hurley to stay put.

One of the things that most people wouldn’t think about but Hurley’s agent surely would, is that St. John’s is in New York City and the tax rates he’d get from the city and the state, combined with the cost of living, would take a bite out of his income.

Arizona is a much cheaper place to live in most respects.

All of this is just idle speculation until Cragg actually gets his candidates lined up and interviewed. It’s his first big test with the Johnnies. He’s a sincerely nice guy and we wish him the best with this hire whether it’s Hurley or whoever. St. John’s is the main city team and City ball should always be good.